February 20, 1906.
THE OMAIIA' ILLUSTRATED BEE.
Revival of the Roller Skating Craze Twenty Years Ago arid Now
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GROUP Or OMAIIA SOCIETY WOMEN ON ROLLERS. .
MRS. CUSCADEN. CHAMPION SKATER.
AN INCIDENT OF TIITJ RTNTC-AK AWTtWARD . TT MBLIT MATTES TitOVBLH.
ItL' .hnul lli.u. lt-lniv Vi- flr.f
I I roller polo name!," said Ben
A I ttHMtnv th. rl A lluivlanrf
company, acornfully. "Why, I
saw the other day In one of the
Omali paper, that theae. polo games being
played at the. Auditorium ware the flrnt
thing of the kind ever done In Omaha. It's
queer how people forget. Back in 1885 and
1S88 we had the greatest sort of polo games,
with a good many of the most prominent
men In the city rooting for Omaha. If
you could have seen Charlie Gulou and
the rest of the bunch getting crary over
at Council Bluffs once they had two goal
to nothing on us and we were desperate,
but wo won the game; If you could have
seen and heard. that crowd when we beat
Council Bluffs out, you would have never
thought It possible for an Omaha paper
to say there had never been any polo In
Omaha before."
The mob which congregates nlghtly at
the Auditorium and alternately falls over
Itself and whirrs gracefully around the
arena, seems to Indicate that the old times
of twenty years ago are returning. Of
course the fad and fashion Is circuitous
and what has once been the fad and the
rage and the popular thing Is quite sure to
be tho fad and the rage and the popular
thing of some future day. So It would
appear to be with skates. Omaha had the
roller skate habit very badly twenty years
ago and now it seems to be sickening for
another attack of the giddy malady.
First of th Kind In Omaha.
The first roller skating dona In Omaha
was In 1881. It seems hardly possible that
there should be people in Omaha yet living
who remember the historic time and the
old-fashioned customs which prevailed at
the rink oaths third floor. of the Crounse
block at Sixteenth and Capitol avenue.
Within that small . arena the clatter of
the ball-bearlngless wheels and the bang
and crash of the cranlums as they bounded
on the hard pine floor must have been
deafening. The 'sport hud caught on, and
the attendance seemed to warrant a flit
ting to a broader field. So the skates and
the oil cans and the chalk dust were re
moved to 1304 Douglas street: This rink
seemed really fine after the first whirling
place, but it was not really so flue, for the
floor was of hard yellow pine, which was
rough to the skate wheels and the dorsal
fln. The soft streaks In the boards wore
out and left the resinous parallels, which
made it skate like the street cars on Thir
teenth street, where they bob and bow at
crossing the railway track.
Its Most Glorious nays.
The roal Imperial era of roller skating,
however, came when Joseph Elliott built
the rink on Capitol avenue, above Eight
eenth. It was the prldo of the city and
the gathering place of nightly, throngs.
Here flourished the masquerade and the
polo game and all the manifestations of
civilized sport. Here the band played every
evening whtlo the youth and beauty of the
city usually a youth and a beauty to
getherrolled about with' easy grace In
time to the radence of the music. Not
alone the youthful skated,' If we may be
lieve the old patriots, but the more elderly
who had retained enough of young supple
ness In their Joints to arise successfully
after a wreck were also eager attendants
at the rink.
This was the nightly custom of that
period for some years, until about 1888,
when a bunch that knew not Joseph or
any of the established customs began to
start other diversions than the skating
rink.. The end did not come like walking
off the platform' in the dark; People grad
ually became interested In business and
dancing and the bicycle and after awhile It
became noticeable that they 'wero hardly
ever seen at the rink more than Ave nights
a week. ' Then It was "four," theil 4 three:
then the rink Was deserted save for a few
klda that didn't Care for the style, and
a few other people who 'ought to have
known better',, but who war not in touch
with publto- opinion. Whsu the beautiful
maple floor whlph had been, laid with such
rejoicing in 188 cams to be Covered thickly
with a veneer of Just through which ths
thousand-legged worm made a trail Ilk
the picture of a railroad In the geog
raphies then cam the Omaha Guards.
They were the next habit of Omaha. They
rented the rink and made . It Into an ax-'
mory. 'They put rugs on the floor and '
moved in easy chairs and put their fine
little bras cannon out in front of the
Tersely Told Tales, Both Grim and Gay
Retort Gracious.
N'nnTII CAROLINA lawyer was
jf I trying a case before a Jury, being
I counsel for the prisoner, a man
charged with making "mountain
dew." The Judge was very hard
on him and the Jury brought In a verdict
of guilty. The lawyer moved for a new
trial. The Judge depled the motion, and re
marked: "The court and the Jury think
the prisoner a knave and a fool." After a
moment's silence tho lawyer answered:
"The prisoner wishes me to say that ha
Is perfectly satisfied he has been tried by
a court and a Jury of his peers." New
York Tribune.
Iessona front the IowIr.
"Hall Caine, the last tlma he was in Phil
adelphia, spent tho evening with me at the
University club," said a Philadelphia Jour
nalist. "His conversation waa very bril
liant. 'It waa very striking.
"Hall Caine said that we could learn a
lesson from a convict. On that point he
told me a true story.
"A bishop,' riding in his carriage on the
Isle of Man, came to a convict in his
striped clothes, breaking stones on the road.
"The bishop talked .to the convict a little
while, giving him some advice and encour
agement. Thtn aa he got ready to drive
on, he aald with a smile and a sigh:
" "Ah, my man, I wish I could break up
the stony hearts of my people aa you break
these rocks on the highway.'
"Prom his lowly attitude the convict
looked up at the proud blBhop In his mag
nificent equipage. .
" 'Perhaps, sir,' he aald, 'you don't work
on your knees.' "San Antonio Bxpresa.
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i On Irish State.
The .Ccrmau banker of Church street
loves to tell the story of the two Irishmen
who discussed the "nationality of the
American states. Said Pat: "Faith an'
be . Jabers, if this grate oounthry ain't
overrun wid th' Irish, an' yit out o' thairty
two states in th' union not wan has an
Irish name." "Sure an' yer wrong," re
plied Mike. "What's the matter wld O'Re
gon?" New. York Press.
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Woald Want a Harp Then.
The erase for giving and accepting cou
pons for purchases of merchandise, to be
redeemed by prises, was given a more or
ess merited rebuke by Mr. Nat C. Oood
ln. After buying a bill of goods the
talesman offered him the coupons that the
imount of the purchase called for. Mr.
3oodwin shook his head.
"I don't want 'em," he said. '
"Tou had bettor take them, Ir." per
sisted th clerk. ' "W redeem them with
ery handsome prises. If you can sav up
..Ouo coupons we give a grand piano."
"Say, look here," replied Mr. Goodwin.
If I ever drank enough of your whisky
r smoked enough of your cigar to get
OW of those coupons I wouldn't want a
ano. I'd wsnt a harp." New York Her-
IU.
Talked Bhon.
A group of young men, many of them
official In the government service, recently
.net In the smoking room of a Washington
rlub ho us. At th suggestion of on of
tli pasty H wu agreed that th ou first
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"PROFESSOR" AND BEG INN EH.
PITT CUTS A FTOURW EIGHT.
"talking shop" should be fined $1; but the
evening passed and no fines had been Im
posed. Willis L. Moore, chief of the weather
bureau, overcoat on and hat in hand, arose
at last to go. '
"Good evening," he said.
"Hold on there; a dollar, please!" shouted
several In unison.
Mr. Moore straightened back as though
he had been hit a blow, looked' puzzled,
then grinned, and, without a word, fished
out the dollar. Saturday Evening Pont.
Her Lesson from fh Sermon.
A clergyman gives ' some pertinent in
stances of the unexpected to be met with
in preaching. "At my time of life I ought
not to be stunned by anything, but one
day after service a good woman of my
flock did manage to take my breath away.
I waa preaching about God's wisdom in
caring for us all and I sold that the
Father know best which of us grows bet
ter in the sunlight and which must have
the shade. You know you plant roses in
the sun and the heliotropes and geraniums,
too: hut if you put fuchsias to grow you
must put them in a shady nook.
"I hoped the sermon would be a com
forting one and after It was. over a woman
came to me, her face glowing with pleasure
which was evidently deep and true. 'Oh,
doctor, I am so glad of that sermon,' said
she, clasping my band and shaking It
warmly. My heart warmed as I wondered
what tender place I had touched In her
soul: but my Joy lasted for a moment only.
'Yes,' she went on, fervently, 'I never knew
before what was the matter with ray fuch
sia.' "London Interior.
Promised to Be Hood.
A well known preacher recently spoke at
a religious service In prison. He noticed
that one of the convicts seemed extraor
dinarily impressed. After the service he
sought him out and continued the good
work by remarking: "My dear sir: I hope
you will profit by my remark Just now
and become a new man." "Indeed, I will,"
was the reply. "In fuel. I promise you
that I will never commit another crime,
but will lead an exemplary life to my dying
day." "Good," said the dominie, "but are
you sure that you will be able to keep th
promise?" "O, yes;" was the cheerful re
ply. "I'm In prison for life." New York
Tribune.
door. But that was the end of roller skat
ing. After the guards left the rink was
used to hold packing boxes and at It flniuli
it became the mark for Incendiaries, who
succeeded in burning It after several trials.
They were never brought to trial.
Played Champion Polo,
Omaha ubb1 to be almost the champion
at polo. This almost is a tribute to the
Blair skaters, who came down like the
Goths and the Huns and seemed to think
they were playing ninepins. The pride of
Omaha consisted of Charles Oration, now
of a sedentary turn of life and the Pacific
Storage company; of Sherman Canfleld, who
has hid himself at Sheridan, Wyo.; John
Hitchcock, a brother of Gilbert Hitchcock;
Warren Helphrey, a present-day pocking
house man; Harry Maccloon, who la a
Chicago representative of the Illinois Cen
tral, and Ben Robldoux, manager for the
G. A. Hoaglnnd Lumber company. The
game flourished In the winter of 1886-6 nnit
the Omaha team played ten or twelve stir
ring contest. They went down to Uncoln
and over to Council Bluffs and broke up
the PhlliBtines. Then they had tho out
siders hern and made a pitiable exhibition
of them. They would have been the cham
pions but for the mistake of playing Blair
In an unguarded moment or with an un
guarded goal. First they went up to Blair
with the Idea of making a holy show of
the ruralites, but they had their show re
turned to them with thanks. Then they
had Blair down here, and failed to make
much of It. The northerners were large,
heavy, brutal men, who did not object seri
ously to colliding with the Omaha players,
who were not particularly heavy set. They
"set" pretty heavllyv at times, however.
But usually there was something graceful
done when the Omaha boys. In nice blue
flannel shirts and red ties and black knee
trousers came upon the floor. One of their
shifty plays,' as explained by Mr. Robldoux
and others of the retired pololsts, waa to
get In a double cross on the out-of-town
goal keepers. The goal in favor twenty
years ago was a board about six feet long
and raised from the floor only six Inches
The rule was to shoot the boll under this
barrier from In front. , This was difficult,
however, because a coarse, brutal man was
waiting In front of the crack to ' hit th
little ball an awful blow If Jt came fooling
around. So the Omaha team got a good
Idea. They would go fooling off with the
ball and get away down In the corner
behind the goal, while the opposing goal
man leaned on his stick superciliously and
took a little rest. Then Omaha would knock
the ball through the. goal from the back
and ti man who had been resting In front
of the goal keeper would wake up and
lambast the block back again between the
goal keeper's skate wheels. It was a good
trick.
One of the Interesting . moments con
nected with Omaha roller. polo was a time
when the Omaha rooters got stalled at Val
ley. It seemed more like hours at 'the
time, for a weakened bridge kept them In
the country all night, so they did not get
back to town until noon next day. About
fifty fans had gone down to Lincoln with
the local team, and coming back in the
Special train it was found the bridge west
of Valley would not hold the train. So
the party walked the rails and gathered
around the platform at Valley and tried to
be cheerful and gay until a special train
could be sent out for them from Omaha.
Valley was hardly up to feeding such a
crowd, either, and altogether It was not
a veryrtice time.
Not the Only Feature.
Polo, however, was far from the only di
version of the roller skaters on Capitol
avenue. Far from It. They enjoyed some
of the most gorgeous fancy dress parties
and masquerades that ever happened. There
must be fifty people who remember Mrs.
Al McKeeth and her string of beads. This
woman certainly was a vision with a most
handsome dress which attracted no end of
attention. Everywhere that people turned
their eyes they thought of the handsomely
gowned Mrs. McKeeth. She-wore great
loops of glistening beads and rlbbOn, o
that as she spun gracefully around and
around there were not a few that noticed,
her. Presently, however; an epidemic of
catastrophe seized the company. Every
few minutes some fancy skater would fly
up into the air and land on his teeth.
People would see arms fly above the heads
of the skaters and then skate wheels would
flash In the air. It waa like a picture of
a battle. The best and most experienced
skaters, who never thought of getting dust
on their fine black coats, went sprawling
this night. Nobody could understand it.
until suddenly Mrs. McKeeth said In an
aggrieved voice: "Why, I've broken a
string of my beads."
The old rink used to be gay about twice
a month with these fancy dress parties.
Sometimes tho skaters were In masque' and
sometimes In pink cheeks and gold fillings.
Some of tho old skaters would have us be
lieve that never since have there been mich
fine parties and such handsome costumes.
Also such handsome women. But in this
matter It'should be remembered that some
of the wives and husbands of the present
met' for the first time at the rink. Some
times they met rather unceremoniously,
too, In which case tho young man had the
decided advantage of getting In without
waiting for on Introduction by saying, as
he reassembled a badly damaged little
skater: "Oh, I'm so sorry: it was most
awkward of me. But, you see, I was skat
ing backward."
The fancy dress parties always began
formally with a grand march on skates,
which must have been a very moving affair.
After the formalities and the spectacular
part, the skaters moved grueefully around
the arena to the music of the band. Skaters
of that time tell us the object was not then
Robins Came to Omaha During Cold Snap
Power of Kloqaene.
"The late Jimmy Michael," said a Chl
cagoan, "met me abroad last autumn, and
we talked together about a young Welsh
orator who waa arousing almost Incredible
emotions among th Welsh people with his
preaching.
" 'I nver beard this man preach,' suld
Michael, 'but I have heard men like him.
Th enthusiasm they create is almost too
powerful. I one listened to a pasalonat
address on charity that on of those in
spired orators made, and at the addr&ss'
end an old woman with whom I was slightly
acquainted turned and borrowed $6 from m
to put In th poor collection.
" I let her have the muney, and, aa It
turned out afterward, she forgot both to
put It in the plat and to repay IU " Chi
cago Journal.
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IIIGBT ' DOING A STLIT-A EimCT'LT TRICK.
speed, as it now Is, but grace. Seldom did
. they chase frantically around the oval, but
gliding, kept with the beat, of the music.
When the band stopped, so did the skaters.
Women Who Could Skate.
Some of the women of the old skating
days were exceedingly graceful In the rink
though of course they could have been
no more so than are tho No. 2 AA's and the
' military heeled boots of the present. Misses
Nellie Moyer, Grace Shlpman and I Nellie
Sexauer are remembered by the frequenters
: of the old rink as most graceful skaters.
Walter Morris of the Union Pacific was a
good, and willing performer. Warren Hel
phrey was the great trick skater In those
days. He could do more things on skates
than a beginner ho did them intentionally
and it did not hurt liim. One of his ac
complishments was to Imltato the novice.
He would do some work that would surprise
the uninitiated onlooker. As ho would al
most fall on his eyebrows snd recover him
self by a marvel of agility people-would bo
heard to exclaim: "My rraclous, that
awkward fellow will kill himself."
In those days as. In these, a good part
of the sport In the arena came from bait
ing, the beginner. Tho funcy boys would
come rushing up behind and Jar the new
one's feet from under him. It waa great'
sport for the veterans. Ono night a small
boy, wicked and agllo as small boys are,
was luiving a great deal of amusement out
of an extremely largo and awkward man
who was no skater. He would stand on
his skates and threaten tho boy to th
delight of everyone, and then Ms skates
would start off In oDnorilte dire.ctionH and
he would hit the floor a blow that would
make it undulate. Somotimes the boy
helped him. At Inst tho big man grow
savage and without attempting to skat
mado a sudden running dash at his tor
menter. For some reason, ho did not fall,
aim lll.T uvj in I ( cu noiiiuniini uin u.r
start soon enough to get a fair headway.
It was seen by everybody that the boy
was gone, and what the large, irate man
would , do to him, Interested tho crowd
very much, Tho boy saw he could not
get nwny and became desperate. He
crouched suddenly and stopped, bracing
himself. The concussion was really won
derful, and before the large man had
stopped revolving, he had caused a bulge
In the north end of the rink.
Entertaining Stories for the Little People
2M
BCFVPl TV BEM1S PARK SHOWING TJHB "HAT.BINQCT3 OT BPr.INCj" WHILE THB MKRCVRT 6HlWED BKLOV1
IfcsliCX
A Story of Heal U.
VFDV m-H 1ft1t stnrir r9 rnal
V I life Is told by the Washington
V I rn riH mn real la f tl.ot It will
carry many memories back to
the days of big red apples and
little red school houses.
A tidy little allvmvhalred woman in
b'ack waa riding toward . Georgetown in
the front seat of an open car. A hand
some, blooming matron of ti or so, carry
ing a basket stuffed with good things from
the market, boarded the car and took a
seat directly behind her.
The handsome matron studied the back
of the little 'white-hatred' woman's , head
for some time and then moved along to get
a side view of her face. This apparently
satisfied her, for- she began to fumble in
her basket, smiling in a reminlscentlal
way, and finally brought out ' a. fine' big,
red apple, which she polished for half a
minute with her silk gloves. Then she
leaned forward and danced the red apple
In front of the little old woman's eyes.
"An apple for you. Miss 'Llz'bcth," she
aid, laughingly.
The little old white-haired - woman
turned about with a smile, looked , for an
instant at the features of tho handsome
matron, and then held up her hands and
exclaimed:
"Well, if it iHn't my little Virginia!"
"Little Virginia" nodded her head up
and down delightfully. "And the last time
I gave you an apple, Miss 'Llz'bcth, waa in
school in 1877."
"So it was."
The old school leather and little Virginia
smiled at each other and threo prosperous
grizzled men who were - watching them
smiled also, and then foil to talking about
tho way tlmu does slip away.
At Home In Hot Water.
We should not expect everyone to be
affected In tho name way by the same cir
cumstances. God's creatures are all dif
ferent and what Is necessary, to ono may
kill another.
One of the most remarkable discoveries
In the shapo of a peculiar species of llsh
ever made ou this continent was that mad
at Carson City, Nev., In 187& At that time
both the Hale and Norcross and the Sav
age mines were down to what Is known as
the "2.200-foot level." When at that depth
a subterranean lake of boiling water was
tapped. This accident flqodnd both mines
to a depth of 40.) feet. After this water
had all been pumped out except that which
gathered In basins and In the Inaccessible
portions of the works and when the water
still had a temperature of 128 degrees
nearly scalding hot many queer-looking,
little, blood-red fish were taken out. In
appearance they somewhat resembled th
goldfish.
They xeemed lively and sportive enough
when they were In their native flement
boiling waler-'ttnthwlthHtandtng the fait
that they did nut even have rudimentary
eyes. When the llsli were taken out of the
hot water and put Ir.to buckets of cold
water for Lb purpose f being transported
to the surface, they died as quickly a a
perch or a bass, would if plunged into a
kettle of 'water that waji scalding hot, not
only this, but. the skin peeled off exactly
as if It hod been boiled.
Eyeless fish, are common enough in all
subterranean lakes and rivers, but this I
the only case on record of living fish being
found In boiling water.
The Little Girl's Telegram.
"Why, bles her dear little heart! Here,
operator, send this immediately."
"This" was a telegram, hastily written
out by the speaker, who was Vice President-elect
Fairbanks. Time and place were
Wednesday morning, November 9, In th
beautiful Fairbanks home In Indianapolis,
Ind. A telegraph instrument and operator
were installed In the library. Since mid
night congratulations had been coming in
over the wires, and typewritten yellow
message sheets lay on the floor f o thick
that It looked like the ground of ff forest
the next morning after a hard frost. Many
of the telegrams from Important peopl
had not been replied to It would hav
been Impossible to answer all of them, and
few of tho senders expected replies.
"Who Is it from?" OHked some one In
the group of smiling friends, for surely
that little yellow slip must contain a mes
sage from a very Important person, indeed,
to win such Interest and an immediat
reply.
"It's from. Miss Clara L. nrllo of Louis
vllle, Ky.," answered Senator Fairbanks.
"Here, operator, send this message to her:"
"Accept my hearty thaukB for your con
gratulations and th flower you gave me at
Louisville. CHARLES W. FAIRBANKS."
"She was a sweet little girl about I
years . old, I think, who gave me a flower
when I spoke in ioulsvlllo end hoped Z
would be, elected. And now she sends m
a telegram. Well, well, young America,
girls as well as boys, know everything
going on these days, taking a deep Interest
in national affairB. It s un intelligent Inter
est, too. We grown-ups will hav to get
up pretty early In the morning to keep
ahead of the children." Little Chronicle.
. . Calf In School.
A dozen little boys and girls.
With sun-browned cheeks anil flaxen curls.
Stood In u row one day at school
And each obeyed the teacher's rule.
Hrlght eyes were on their open books;
Outside the sunny orchard nooks
Bent fragrant hrerxes through the room
Tu whisper of the summer's bloom.
A busy hum of voices rose.
The morning lessun neared lis close.
When "tap, tap, tap" upon the floor
Made every eye turn to the door.
A llttlo calf that wandered by
Had chanced the hlldren there to spy,
And trotted In to Join the class.
Much to the Joy of lud imil lass.
Their A-B Ab anil R-A Ha
It heard and solemnly did say:
"Baa! Haal" then sritinpereil to the green.
And never since In tn-honl has been.
TIiohm boys and irirls simhi learned to spell
Anil read and wrlie: but who can tell
I low art-Hi that little i alf became.?
It may he now a calf of fame!
Or was that "Baa!" all that It knew!
I thLaa it must hav beeo. jjon't youf
, a-velacted, .